Action Packed: The Best Of Jonathan Richman
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
When the mid-'70s Jonathan Richman traded the "snotty," Velvet Underground-tinged sensibility of the original Modern Loves for a strummed, twangy electric style and an even lighter percussion sound, he didn't give up his convictions. The 22 cuts here, drawn from Rounder releases from the '80s and '90s, are as joyful and unironic as anything cut during those years. He explicitly acknowledges his roots in the innocent '60s on "Parties in the U.S.A.," both lyrically and in its borrowed "Hang On Sloopy" riff, and he reaches back to the Collins Kids' rockabilly nugget for this collection's title track. Richman celebrates urban delights ("I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar," "Cappuccino Bar," "Vampire Girl"), but these tunes find him digging ranches ("Circle I") and island jaunts (an expansion of "Bermuda" includes a pointed jab at the old Lovers' "She Cracked"). Openheartedly, he even cut a whole album in Nashville (well, Springfield, Missouri) style and a long-player in Spanish. Finally, "She Doesn't Laugh at My Jokes" sounds like the product of a much less damaged Brian Wilson circa The Beach Boys Love You. --Rickey Wright
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